Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele never misses an opportunity to position himself a victim and all who oppose him as hypocrites or in some other way as bad people. Steele recently was on TV to discuss Sen. Harry Reid’s stupid and racially insensitive comments (I will blog about that later) and called out the Democrats and progressives for what he feels is hypocrisy about how racial charges are handled. But, in his clumsy zest to attack Democrats, Steele showed his own hypocrisy by downplaying a recent comment that he made that many people feel was a slur against Native Americans.
Once again, Michael Steele wallows in victimhood, deflecting his own racially insensitive comment, while attacking Sen. Reid for a racially insensitive comment and calling on him to resign as majority leader of the U.S. Senate.
Here are Steele’s comments, while being interviewed by Fox News Sunday host Chris Matthews, about Sen. Harry Reid:
STEELE: I think he should. There is a standard where Democrats think they can say these things and apologize when it comes from the mouth of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it’s racism. It’s either racist or it’s not. And it’s inappropriate, absolutely. So if the standard is the one we saw with Trent Lott as leader at the time, then I think this absolutely falls in that category here. … Remember, this is the same leader who just a few weeks ago was talking about health care in the context of slavery. Clearly he is out of touch.
As you will see in the Huffington Post account, Matthews did confront Steele about his double standard. But, the RNC chairman simply said if his comments were offended he apologized and tried to leave it at that apology (something he was not willing to allow Sen. Reid). So, where is the real double standard there, Chairman Steele? If the hypocritical Steele is not willing to resign, as RNC chairman, after his racially insensitive remarks, then why should Sen. Reid resign from his post as majority leader?
Now, in no way, shape or form can you compare Sen. Reid’s comments to that of former U.S. Senator Trent Lott, who suggested that “all of these problems” could have been avoided if segregationist Strom Thurmond had been elected president of the United States in 1948. Once again, the passion of Steele is somewhat admirable, but he is so clumsy and blundering that he takes a political issue that could be a good one and blows it because it is perhaps he who is the out-of-touch hypocrite.
Generally, when Michael Steele is confronted on his missteps (and there have been more than a few), he blames Washington, people afraid of change, Democrats, the media, etc. For the most part, he blames everyone but Michael Steele.
